Successful Test of the Hair Rig for Carp

As you're well aware, I like to keep things simple.  When I got into carp fishing, I soon discovered many rigs that seemed anything but simple.  Most of these rigs came from anglers in Britain, France and other parts of Europe.  Carp fishing over there is as popular as bass fishing here.

Without fail, the basis of nearly every one of these carp rigs was something called the hair rig.  Hair rigs are occasionally used in the U.S. for catfishing, but they're rare.  The concept is straightforward. Tie a piece of braid or monofilament around a hook, and put the bait on the braid/monofilament rather than the hook.

This piece of braid/monofilament is the hair.  It hangs directly behind the hook.  The hook itself hangs freely.  The concept being that when the carp sucks in the corn, the hook will follow shortly after and get lodged in the lower lip when the carp tries to eject it (spit it out).  Here's what mine looked like with corn.

Crazy, right?  At least that's what I thought.  Notice that there is a loop at the bottom of the hair.  I have a small twig in the loop to keep the corn from slipping off.

So there's only one thing to do when you think something's crazy.  Test it!  I fished all weekend with this rig, and it hooked carp in the bottom lip, just as it's designed to do.  Check this out!

Some were small, like this one.

Then, there were the big boys!

The object beside the fish is the handle of my net.  As you can see, he was long.  However, the prize for this weekend's big fish goes to my daughter!  Look below!

On a side note, carp bite on worms too!  That's what my daughter caught the little carp below with.

Apparently fish aren't the only aquatic creatures that appreciate a good worm!

By now, you may think I'm stuck on corn and worms.  Not so.  In Britain and Europe, boilies are frequently used with hair rigs.

They're basically balls of dough that are hardened by baking.  Boilies come in many sweet flavors, including the ones I ordered below.  They're strawberry.

I haven't had any luck with the boilies.  I think the carp in our lakes are conditioned for good old-fashioned corn, worms, and bread.

There are a million how-to's online that will show you how to tie a hair rig and how to bait it.  I'll probably post my own in the coming weeks.

For now, I ordered my hair rigs online.  They're already tied to the hook and ready to snap onto your swivel!  All you have to do is put the bait on.  I recommend threading it on with the smallest crochet needle you can buy at Walmart.  

The bait stop that goes in the loop can be almost anything.  I recommend using a small piece of twig.  It will feel more natural to the fish.  It just has to be strong enough to hold the bait on the hair.

As usual, all fish (and the turtle) were released.  Tight lines!

2.5 ft, 4 lbs Carp!

Here in West Texas, it takes a well-trained eye to find the beauty.  Don't get me wrong, the beauty is definitely there.  For me, our playa lakes are truly gorgeous.

The reason is simple.  When you combine dozens of playa lakes with no commute, you can get some serious fishing done in a small period of time.

In between getting off of work and heading to a PTA meeting, I had just over an hour today.  It turns out that an hour is all I needed.  Check it out!

That, my friends, is an awesome common carp.  I couldn't find my scale, but I'd estimate the weight at 4 lbs.  

With this fish, I'd say the length is even more impressive than the weight.  No tape measure, but I estimate the length at 2.5 feet.  Now that fishing season's heating up, I'll make sure to have a scale and a tape measure on me next time!

So here's the thing.  I had two poles.  One had a hair rig, which is specifically designed for carp.  It was baited with strawberry boilies.

The other pole had nothing more than one split shot weight and a #4 baitholder hook.  It was baited with a live nightcrawler.  That, my friends, is the rig that caught this awesome carp.

This incident underscores something I've preached all along.  Simple is good.  Simple is powerful.  Simple works.

Having said that, I did put the worm on the hook in such a way as to optimize the chances of the hook lodging in the fish's lower lip.  I have a whole post dedicated to that.  Go check it out.  

More importantly, go fishing.  Carp like this are lots of fun to catch.  This one actually jerked my pole a couple feet in the air.  The only thing that kept the pole from going in the lake was the chair I had it propped against.

It was exhilarating!  Tight lines!

Let 2015's Catfishing Begin!

There are many things with which we're blessed in Texas.  One of those blessings is a short winter.  There are states in the North that still have ice on the lakes and snow on the grass.

When I hit the playa lake today with my daughter, I saw this.

Here's a closer look.

Still not a great photo, I know.  It's a tiny catfish.  It was all of an inch or maybe an inch and a half.  When you see these little guys  swimming, it's a sure sign that the lake is coming back to life.

It's also a sure sign that there are bigger fish swimming, like the one below that my daughter caught.

There were two more bullhead catfish where that one came from.

On a playa lake, three catfish equal a slow day.  However, it's a lot better than catching one or none.  That happened a LOT this winter.  Here in West Texas, we just don't have the deeper bodies of water that are conducive to steady winter bites.

As you can tell from the photo, today's bait was a live nightcrawler.  I had a carp hair rig set up with corn, but no luck there.

The good news is that Spring has arrived, so let's get fishing.  As usual, it was catch and release.  Tight lines!

March Fishing Report

Hello, my friends.  I know it's been almost a month since my last post.  It hasn't been for lack of fishing.  It's been for lack of catching!

Playa lakes are relatively shallow.  As such, their ecosystems are significantly affected by our West Texas weather extremes.  Look at the picture below.  It was taken last month.

That's not fog.  It's steam.  Prior to the day this picture was taken, we enjoyed a few days in the 60's and 70's.  Then an arctic cold front dropped the temp into the 20's.  That steam is the heat escaping from the water after a 50 degree temperature swing.

When you see that happening in a playa lake, you can bank on fish lock-jaw.  Don't get me wrong, there have been some small victories.

This weekend I used corn and worms.  I also tried my hand at some bass fishing with a shad crankbait.  For all of the hours invested, there wasn't much return.  I have only one small carp to show you.

I caught this one in a playa lake on whole kernel sweet corn.  That was after a LOT of chumming with the same corn.  The good news is that I saw a lot of carp jumping.  While activity didn't equal lots of bites, it is good to see them moving!

I also tried Buffalo Springs Lake, but came up with nothing there.  The good news, my friends, is that it's warming up. That means the fish will warm up, and so will the bites!  Just take a look at this forecast.

As usual, the fish pictured were released.  Tight lines!